Lemon Grass Cafe

The agaenda for the day was snorkeling! Hmmm...remembering my first snorkeling experience during a trip to Vietnam and recall freaking out...not letting go of the life saver and having a very hard time breating through the mouth piece!!! Naturally, I chose to pass on this water activity of the day. Good thing my friend's Larry and Yet didn't like to snorkel--yey I am not alone! hahaha So parting with the rest of the gang, we decided to walk around the beach, check out the mall and get a massage!

It got amazingly HOT around noontime...too hot and sticky to get a massage! So amidst our shopping trip, we decided to cool down in the cool looking cafe in d'mall..the lemon grass cafe! The place was a cool lemon hue, with seiling fans, comfy tables and chairs, and an inviting dessert display! Larry and Yet wanted to try some desserts as we cooled off and waiting for the rest of the gang to finish their water fun.

This was Yet's Coconut Pannacota. It had a nice coconut flavor which was complimented by the mango topping. I had a bit of a gritty texture as opposed to being smooth (as a pannacota is supposed to be). Perhaps its due to the moisture drawing property of the coconut added? hahah

Larry opted for this Lemon Tart. This was a tad bit too big for a tart tart! He found himself scooping out the lemon filling as he tells me its too much for the crust, and when eating tart we want a good balance of filling and crust dont't we? =)

As for me? I loved the iced lemon water! ;P hahahahha

Ribs at Gastof's

When it comes to ribs---I always remeber my good friend Warren and how much he raves about this ribs place in Boracay-Gastof's! And when I told him I was going to Boracay, he goes---"Jen! Gastof's! Askfirst if may RIBS if wala don't bother!"

I told my friends that we give this place a go and here it is...

This was the pasta marinara--good.

Here is what we all came for--the RIBS! Oh yeah they were really good! The ribs were tenderly cooked and smothered with bbq sauce! I like that the bbq sauce was not so overpowering.

Ole! Ole! We're at Boracay!

Boracay! Boracay! My second time here and this time with my very dear friend Lotte, who is vacationing in Manila from D.C. along with 6 more of our friends! YAHOOOOO!!!! We arrived evining of March 27! Why? o Why so late??? ASK CEBU PACIFIC!!!! grrrr.... We experienced quite an infuriating first night at the island...but I will not get into the nitty gritty of that!

We stayed at the Beach Comber. It's a new hotel located at station 1 and it was great! The rooms were very very nice, very good service, nice ammenities and a pool to boot! our accommodation included breakfast at Inasal chicken--which offerred a choic of various silogs (i.e. tapsilog, tosilog, bangusilog,chorilog---chorizo sinangag at itlog!hahahah).

Our first official day, we walked around the beach and checked out d'mall (ah yes---shopping on the first day agad!) I must tell you, there are soooo many new hotels and restos that have been put up since my last visit 2005! I was kinda disappointed to see so many commercial restos and shops that have been put up there, like good ah, mongkok, nothing but water etc..etc... I'm sorry, I have nothing againts these restos and shops (as I loce em all in Manila) but I just kinda feel the Boracay beach, far from Manila-feel, touch is deminished/lost when I see establishemenst that are found back home.

For lunch, we dicided to go for spanish! We picked Ole spanish resto located right smack in the middle of d'mall.

We had this soup made of bacon (or was it ham?), chick peas and spaghetti noodles---I forgot what it was called, but it was a good meal starter. Then we had baked mussels...

As you can see, from what's left of it, they were delicious----garlicky and buttery! =)
This is the Asparagus-Goat Cheese quezodilla---really, really good! I just kinda hoped they made 'em toasty as opposed to being a bit on the soggy-side. Nevertherless we devoured it to the last bit!

Lastly, the Paella Valenciana! This was really goo as well, although by the time we got to it we were kinda full already =(

Sunday Cinnamon Rolls

I woke up later than normal last Sunday. I guess I got pretty tired from the fridaya nd saturday activities. I wanted a relaxed day and had great inspiration to bake! So I made my cinnamon rolls, but this time I made them with a plain dough and plain filling! This is only the second time I made them this way. The first was for the birthday of my dear friend Shawie and now I bake for my good friend balot!! Yehey!!! She is arrving from Washington DC on Monday!!!! I sooo miss her na and we go to bora on TUESDAY!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT =) I made three batches of these babies...one for Balots, one order of a person na ayaw ng chocolate (pero malakas sakin kaya all the rolls I made turned out plain! ;P) and one for my sisters (na na finish almost the whole round after lunch--well they got to it at its freshest state and believe me nothing beats good 'ol cinnamon rolls hot off the oven!!!). I took the pic while I was cooling the bread and I forgot to take a pic of it with cream cheese frosting!

Hope they all like 'em. The original verion is Chocolate cinnamon rolls ( I posted about it along time ago) with chocolate bunn with dark chocolate-chips and cinnamon-sugar filling topped with cream-cheese frosting. Some like 'em frosted...some like 'em plain!

Anyway, the whole bread-making experience is a real stress-reliever for me. I love preparing and kneading the dough...patiently waiting for it to rise...and rise and rise....the smell of the whole kitchen as they bake....and the best part? Seeing them being enjoyed by loved ones.

Baking for friends, family or even for business....is all a good for me. A perfectly spent Sunday I might say.

To end my day, my sisters and I had dinner with my Aunty, Uncle and counsin at Napoli in Tomas Morato. They serve simple and good Italian food not to mention cheap! We had a Huge Cheese Pizza, Mushroom pasta, Crab Asparagus Pasta, Eggplant Parmigiana, Chicken Fingers, Itallian Sausage pasta and a side of MORE Itallian Sausages...all for Php 1,500.00 ++ only!!! My Uncle picked this place because he is vegetarian and he feels he has lots of food options here. Don't worry, the chicken and sausages are for us non-vegans! hahahaha

Stuffed that we are...my sisters and I managed to push in more food in our stomachs as we went to Starbucks for some coffee and dessert (hard to belive but we had cake pa ;P ) hahaah

A good day of baking and quality time with family =)

Graduation Day!!!

Last Saturday was the graduation day of my dear lil sis Nikki =) Congratulations shobs! mwah! We are sooo proud of you!

It also happemd to be the launching day for the 2007 Honda CRV! I think I have not blogged about the very unfortunate accident where our new Honda Civic was ruthlessly smashed by a speeding Trooper----at broad day light!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe how spineless some people can be...to be able to sleep at night while turning their backs on RESPONSIBILITY! Let me just say that we are victims of people with NO conscience, NO morals, NO fear of God! It's soo brutal of me to say such harsh words, but I really don't know how to define people like that. People who run away and hide from the resposibilty they have after inflicting danger and damage to their fellow! Anyways, I shall not dwell on that----may KARMA naman and our God is JUST and FAIR!

Taking that aside, I went to the lauching of the all new honda CRV with my brothers. Take a look at this.....



Wow....it is great and I fell in love with the white one =)


After that we hanged out at UCC tomas morato, went isaw and fishbol tripping in UP and headed on to my sis's Graduation.

We had dinner at Italianni's afterwhich we went to Grilla in Libis. A very exhausting day but very fun and worth while =)

Thank you my brothers, my sisters and CONGRATULATIONS SHOY!!!!

Back from Hiatus!!!

My goodness!!! How blog lazy I have become! I have been awfully busy with wedding plans---YES ....wedding plans...but NOT OF MY OWN! hahahahahha My shobe Che is getting married this NOV!!!! I have been busy helping her get suppliers and making the necessary arrangements to make her wedding special...in other words, feeling bride ako! hahahha We attend meetings with wedding hosts, cake makers, inivitation printers, florists, videographers etc...sometimes I eve n go without the BRIDE! Napapagkamalan tuloy ako ;P Nonetheless, its fun to do and when it's my turn---experct nako!

I have always thought that when my sis gets married...I will lose my kid sis. She happens to be my roomie at home and I feel a tinge of sadness when I look at her bed when I get home, thinking one day it will be empty =(. Lest, I forget my brothers in law have been hanging out with me on a regular basis. We have dinner wherever (i.e. our favorite snakaroo, which serves cheap steaks for us cheap skates! hahaha), coffee (starbucks, fiugaro, bo's) and even go drinking ;P!!! I have fun with them all time. In hindsight I realize, I have gained a bigger family =) Thank you my brothers!

Alongside all of that, I have been introduced to BIKRAM YOGA by my good friends Didi and Edi. It was just a few weeks ago that I got a text message from Edi making kulit that I go try out yoga with them. I have been practicing yoga for sometime now. I started taking yoga classes while I was at Firtness First and continued on practicing at home via DVD! I thought to myself...hey I can handle BIKRAM yoga ---yoga is yoga right?---errr...not quite! The BIG difference here is that in BIKRAM yoga---you practice in a HEATED ROOM!!!! Imagine doing 1 1/2 hrs of yoga in THE SAUNA ROOM!!!! Yes! It is that hot. My first time to join the class, I had to forego coffee hang time with my new borthers ...(ganun ka lakas sila edi and didi sakin!) I found out also that our friend Annie was in the class too. How did my first time go???? MY GOODNESS--I SWEATED LIKE CRAZY!!!! To tell you honestly, I am not a person who readily sweats. I used to do hours of cardio at the gym and it is very rare that I seat profusely. Well, not in BIKRAM YOGA!!! We work out infront of mirrors and after every pose, I see my face all flushed PINK and my wholebody DRENCHED with SWEAT!. It was the first time in my life that I found sweat dripping off my arms and legs!!!! After the very challengiong class....I felt great!!!! I felt relaxed and a bit sleepy! I wasn't able to eat dinner while we were at Italianni's after the class...I just felt very thirsty!

Atop that, I have gone back to my bread making once again! I have been making my cinnamon rolls since I got some orders and I also made for friends =)

That all sums up why I have been away from my blog. Hopefully, this is the start of my religious posting. I have Missed out on posting sooo many things that I have been to, restos that I have tried! Ah!!! Sayang. Like my church hopping escapade (to Calaruega, Pink Sisters, Simbahan ng Inang Saklolo etc.) at Tagaytay, breakfast at Josephines...trying the Boutique Bed and Breakfast....eating finally at SOMMS Thai Carinderia! soooo many stories....

Next week I shall be leaving for BORACAY!!!! =) YEHEY!!! So when I get back, I hope to have pics with my blogs!!!!

Later I shall Have dinner with some friends...we shall be trying PALOMA at Shang =)